Epiphany

Huo Yuhao walked out of the dormitory and saw Mu En still lying by the door, looking half-asleep. After politely greeting him, he was about to leave when Mu En's chuckling voice came from behind him. "Young people need to know restraint. That little girl is thin-skinned, after all. You can't go that far right from the start."

Huo Yuhao nearly tripped flat on the ground. He turned around and saw a faintly amused expression on Mu En's wrinkled face.

Huo Yuhao forced out a smile. "Grandpa, I don't really understand what you mean."

Mu En slowly waved him away, still wearing that expression. "Just pretend you don't understand. This old man is old, after all. I can't hear clearly. Maybe you young people are playing some new game. I don't understand it either."

Huo Yuhao struggled to keep his expression from collapsing, then fled in embarrassment.

Huo Yuhao made a decision. From now on, he would definitely make more time to help this old man take walks. What a fine old man. He needed to get him moving more.

Shrek's cafeteria was also divided by age. Huo Yuhao looked around after entering and found there was not even a place to sit; students could only eat standing up. It had to be said that Shrek Academy had inherited little of its founding ancestor Flender's strengths, but had inherited his stinginess and habit of exploiting students in full.

Huo Yuhao glanced over the menu. He could not afford the expensive dishes. The cheap ones were just vegetables and rice, so he might as well cook for himself.

His Innate Soul Power had been low because of malnutrition during his childhood. Now that he was a Soul Master, he could not mistreat himself. He had to eat better food and make up for what he could. There was still a Soft Bone Demon Rabbit in his Soul Tool, just right for dinner.

Huo Yuhao remembered that he had promised to treat Tang Ya and Bei Bei to roasted rabbit. He could invite them today, and also ask whether he could sell the recipes he had developed to restaurants in Shrek City.

Huo Yuhao quickly found Bei Bei and Tang Ya.

As the Class Monitor, Bei Bei was busy coordinating his class's advancement assessments. Moreover, he found Tang Ya increasingly strange no matter how he looked at her, so he decided to avoid her for a while.

Bei Bei declined Huo Yuhao's invitation, leaving only Tang Ya to go out with Huo Yuhao.

"Xiao Ya-jie, do you know where we can buy things like a grill and firewood? We also need to buy some ingredients. Even though Brother Bei Bei can't join us, we can send some over after we're done. Keeping it in a Soul Tool won't affect the food's flavor," Huo Yuhao asked.

"We'll have to buy those in the city. Hmm, it's still early. Let's hurry there and back." Tang Ya set off as soon as she spoke. She was about to take Huo Yuhao's hand, but then remembered what had happened in the Star Dou Great Forest. Her pretty face reddened, and her Fair Hand froze in midair, not daring to grab him.

Huo Yuhao gently nudged Tang Ya's sleeve and smiled. "Xiao Ya-jie, let's go. You lead the way. We can buy some extra vegetables and meat today. If you can find a place to cook, I'll show you what I can do. I guarantee it'll taste even better than roasted meat."

"Really?" Tang Ya cried out in delight. The grilled fish last time had already been the most delicious thing she had ever eaten. She could hardly imagine what food even more delicious than that would taste like. Tang Ya swallowed hard, then impatiently used her Soul Power to speed up. When she saw that Huo Yuhao could not keep up, she kept urging him onward from ahead.

As a true foodie, she had absolutely no resistance to the temptation of good food.

While Huo Yuhao cooked, Tang Ya stood beside him, blinking expectantly. She truly could not wait even a single minute.

In the kitchen Tang Ya had found, Huo Yuhao activated Martial Soul Possession and opened Mental Detection. He slowly closed his eyes.

Even before obtaining his first Soul Ring, Huo Yuhao had used his Spirit Eye Martial Soul to assist him in cooking. Today was his first time using Mental Detection to cook.

Everything in the kitchen appeared in his mind, though what he focused on most was the ingredients. Every ingredient had its own characteristics. Nearly every skilled chef could distinguish them, and Huo Yuhao naturally could as well. Back when he had needed to make money, he had thoroughly studied the ingredients and seasonings of the Douluo Continent in order to find substitutes for the ingredients and seasonings used in Earth's delicacies.

With Mental Detection, it became even easier for Huo Yuhao to distinguish the characteristics of ingredients. The data for every ingredient was clearly marked in his mind. As long as he wished it, even the data for every millimeter would be displayed.

Following that data, Huo Yuhao quickly processed the ingredients with the corresponding methods. Some were salted, some mixed with sugar, and some were placed in the Space Soul Guidance Device to preserve their freshness.

Then came the cooking. To make the dishes even more delicious, Huo Yuhao increased his spiritual power output, trying to control the changes and data of every leaf of vegetable and every slice of meat. In his mind, what lay before him was no longer a stove and ingredients, but an ocean composed of data.

He failed at the first dish. It was not that he had cooked it badly, but that he could not perform precise operations and give every piece of ingredient the treatment it required. In the end, he could only process everything as a whole. After storing the failed dish in his Soul Tool, Huo Yuhao fell into thought. He realized that his current problem was that his Soul Power and movements could not keep up with his spiritual power. This was not limited to cooking; even during today's practical assessment, it had been the same. Huo Yuhao began considering how to solve this problem.

Watching Xiao Yuhao's dazzling movements from the side, Tang Ya inhaled the fragrance spreading through the air, and drool could not help but flow from the corner of her mouth.

Finally, the first dish was plated. Tang Ya did not even bother reaching for chopsticks and was about to grab it with her hands. But after she blinked, the dish giving off that rich aroma had vanished.

Tang Ya rubbed her eyes, but still could not see the plate that had made her drool.

Had Xiao Yuhao put it into his Soul Tool? Was it for Bei Bei? Tang Ya could not help grinding her teeth, feeling a little indignant.

Xiao Yuhao had invited her out for a meal, yet the first thing he did after finishing a dish was save it for Bei Bei. Tang Ya even felt a little jealous.

Based on Huo Yuhao's behavior in the Star Dou Great Forest, she had thought Xiao Yuhao had improper designs on her. She had even considered whether she should refuse or half-heartedly go along with it if Xiao Yuhao made a move on her tonight, and if she refused, how far she should let him go before doing so.

Tang Ya could not help recalling the sensation of that brief touch. Her whole body went weak, and her mouth became dry.

And now, when Xiao Yuhao finished his first dish, the first person he thought of was actually Bei Bei?!

Could Xiao Yuhao's real target be Bei Bei rather than her?

Tang Ya suddenly realized it. Could Xiao Yuhao be seducing her into depravity so Bei Bei would see her disgrace, recognize her true nature, leave her, and throw himself into Xiao Yuhao's arms? Tang Ya felt that she had uncovered the truth.

No wonder she had felt that Bei Bei had become much more distant toward her. Had Xiao Yuhao already launched an offensive against Bei Bei without her knowing?

What a scheming Xiao Yuhao!

Tang Ya, Tang Ya, you need to be careful from now on. Don't fall into Xiao Yuhao's trap.

Tang Ya came back to herself. When she looked at Huo Yuhao again, her gaze was already filled with vigilance and scrutiny.

Huo Yuhao still had no idea about the storm raging in Tang Ya's mind. He was thinking about how to make his movements keep up with his spiritual power. Fortunately, with Electrolux's memories as experience, he quickly found a direction for practice.

Huo Yuhao immediately began making the second dish. This time, he no longer aimed too high. Instead, he classified ingredients with similar values, then performed the same precise operations on each category. At the same time, he used Soul Power to assist in handling the ingredients, multitasking as he controlled various ingredients and the heat.

The second dish was finished and stored in the Soul Tool.

The third, the fourth, the fifth...

Tang Ya was already starving, but she chose not to disturb Xiao Yuhao. Instead, she stood guard by his side at all times. She could tell that Xiao Yuhao had entered a state of epiphany.

To enter an epiphany just by cooking—Tang Ya did not know whether she was too mediocre or Xiao Yuhao was simply too monstrous. Tears of envy streamed from the corner of her mouth.

Heavens have mercy, she had been standing here for several hours. All she had seen was Xiao Yuhao putting plate after plate of delicious food into his Soul Tool, while she could only smell it and swallow her drool. It was simply torture.

When would she finally get to taste Xiao Yuhao's cooking?!

At last, only after Huo Yuhao had used up all the ingredients in his Soul Tool did he emerge from his epiphany.

Tang Ya immediately pounced on him. "Xiao Yuhao, you have to compensate me!"

Huo Yuhao, who still did not understand what had happened: Huh?